Newt does without D.C.

Newt Gingrich spent more than 30 years building relationships in Washington, but relatively few of his old colleagues in town have ponied up for him.

His campaign reported pulling in just $278,000 from the Washington metro area last year — a drop in the bucket compared with the $2.5 million raised in Washington by his chief rival, Mitt Romney, who has spent little time there. Those numbers, compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, are for checks of more than $200.

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Gingrich’s weak showing in Washington is not surprising to many of the former Hill staff, lobbyists and members of Congress who say his behavior has rankled colleagues along the way in his 20 years in the House and 12 years in Washington consulting.

And those personal clashes aren’t helping him overcome Romney, a candidate whose fundraising draws heavily on old friends in the banking world, supporters from his days as Massachusetts governor, and elsewhere.

“I’m not sure [Gingrich] ever had a lot of friends here, and I’m not sure he cared, because he came here to accomplish a purpose, not to make buddies,” said Ken Kies, an influential tax lobbyist and a Gingrich donor. “Newt led a revolution, so that tends to leave bodies on the floor.”

Only a smattering of Gingrich’s former colleagues have endorsed him or given him money from their political action committees or leadership committees. And unlike Romney, Newt hasn’t reported any lobbyist bundlers bringing in checks of $50,000 or more — which candidates are required to disclose. In the last three months of 2011, Romney reported 14 lobbyist bundlers raising $1.2 million for the campaign.

Gingrich “has always been somewhat of a polarizing figure within the party,” said Jeff MacKinnon, a lobbyist and former aide to Texas Rep. Joe Barton, adding that the former speaker hasn’t done much to retain his ties to the Washington establishment.

“I think that when he left in ’98, that he really didn’t cultivate a team, he really didn’t cultivate any of his old contacts,” said MacKinnon, an early supporter of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential candidacy.

Even some of Gingrich’s former allies have turned against him.

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), a Gingrich leadership partner-turned-rival, said last week that Gingrich won’t have another comeback, and he feels bad for his former colleague. “I think he’s digressed taking a second-rate campaign into a first-rate vendetta,” Armey said of Gingrich’s attacks on GOP front-runner Mitt Romney.

Another hurdle for Gingrich’s in-town fundraising: Washington likes to put its money on a winner — which is widely perceived to be Romney.